Not as Black as His Name
by Immortalli
Summary: Regulus Black has always been overshadowed by his big brother's good looks and boisterous attitude. And if it wasn't that, then he was being cast in his family's reputation. But finally someone sees him for who he is, and helps show him his true self.
1. Forbidden Love at First Sight

**A/N**: Ok, so here's my newest idea for a fanfic. Although I'm sure he got a lot of attention after the seventh book, I feel that a certain character has not been explored enough, and we know just enough about him to write a story, but enough is left unsaid and unexplained that we can do what we want with that story!! Slightly AU. But how much of HP fanfiction isn't?

**_This Disclaimer is for the entire story. I am not going to do one every chapter:_ Let it be known that I, Immortalli (and my real self, too), do not own ANYTHING related to Harry Potter, excepting a copy of the seventh book in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I do not in any way have part in the copyright or trademark of Harry Potter. I am not selling this story for profit nor taking any credit away from J.K. Rowling. The only thing that belongs to me of this entire story is the plot and the OCs. I bid you good day.**

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Forbidden Love at First Sight?

"_C'mon_, Celestia! We're gonna go see if Bruce can touch the Whomping Willow! He says he's already done it but I don't believe him. I said to him, 'If you did it once, you can do it again.' And _he _said-"

"Emily!" Celestia Ravesca cut through her friend's incessant chatter. "I don't want to see Bruce get himself landed in the hospital wing and a detention at the same time again! I told you, I'm going to go find a place where I can draw quietly!" Her friend let out an exhasperated sigh.

"But Celest, you're _always _drawing! Why can't you come hang out with us just this once? I mean, what would it hurt? Plus, I've already bet Bruce five Sickles he can't make it to the trunk, and I bet he'd let you get in on the betting, too. I mean, you know he's not going to make it, so it's safe money. If you just say-"

"Emily!" Celestia cut her friend off for a second time. "I have told you a hundred times today! I'm not going to sneak down to the kitchens with you, I'm not going to help you hunt for the 'Room of Requisit', or whatever it is you're always talking about, I'm not going to tail James Potter and his crew with you, I'm not going to help you study, and I'm most certainly not going to watch Bruce get beat up by a tree that we're not supposed to go near, anyway! I am going to do what I've been trying to do for over a week! I'm going to go find a nice, _quiet _place to draw!" Her friend blinked, her eyes wide with shock. It was one of the few times that Celestia said more in one sentence than Emily, and one of the few times she got mad at her friend.

"Sorry, Celest. I'll just go with Sabrina. I didn't mean to make you angry." Celestia heaved a great sigh.

"I'm sorry too, Em. I shouldn't have shouted. I just really need to find a place to relax." Emily nodded.

"I understand. See you at dinner!" Emily left the dormitory, probably on her way to find Sabrina. Celestia began gathering her art supplies. Then, sketchpad and art case in hand, she left the dormitory where a few of her roommates were still gossiping happily away. She went down into the common room and found to her dismay that the Charm Club members were there in heated discussion. Besides, she didn't feel like drawing bookcases and she already had three sketches of the statue. So she crossed the room and left, shutting the door and its eagle knocker behind her. She descended the long staircase to the lower floor. Once down, she glanced out a window and decided that she wanted to draw outdoors things today. She left through the front doors and began exploring the grounds. She decided to sit by the lake. It was always a good spot for inspiration. But Potter and Snape seemed to be dueling it out again. She sighed. Not only did they create a lot of noise, but there was always the off chance of getting his by a misaimed spell. She sighed. Where to go, what with her best spot taken?

She roamed the grounds, desprately searching for somewhere that wasn't noisy. But it seemed like the whole of Hogwarts had turned out onto the grounds today. Everywhere she went there were people shouting, running, and basically being as noisy as they could possibly be. In desperation she turned to the Quidditch pitch. Maybe it would be deserted. Maybe... but no. The Slytherin team was practicing. She watched for a minute and realized that they were mostly quiet. Even when they did speak, the noise didn't carry very well the the stands. So she mounted the steps and settled herself in a seat. She even had a decent view of the grounds from here. She saw the giant squid raise a tentecale out of the water and immediately began sketching while the image was still fresh in her mind. If this sketch turned out well, she could even color it. It would be wonderful to capture how the sun had shone on the droplets as the fell off the squid's arm... a minute later, she realized people were watching her. She looked up and found the entire Slytherin Quidditch team hovering at the edge of the stands, only four or five rows away from her. Their captain was at the front.

"Hello?" She said tentitavely. She realized half of them were frowning.

"What are you doing here?" Asked the captain, glaring at her.

"I'm just drawing. It was the quietest place I could find."

"What house are you in?"

"Ravenclaw."

"We don't like people from other houses spying on our practice sessions."

"But I'm not spying! I really just wanted to draw! I'm not bothering you, why can't I just sit here in peace?"

One of the Chasers, a girl with brown hair in a long ponytail, sneered at her. "We booked the pitch for today. Now run along, before we make you." Celestia straightened up, a look of defiance on her face.

"I've got just as much a right to be here as you. I'm not bothering you, and I'm not trying to stop or hinder you from using the pitch. So leave me alone! You've got no right to kick me out." The captain looked like he was about to retaliate, but their Seeker, a boy who looked about her own age with dark hair and eyes, spoke up.

"Just let her stay. It's not like she's taking notes for the Gryffindors, and we're wasting practice time." There captain looked torn. Obviously he wanted to make her leave, but he also didn't seem to want to go through the trouble or didn't want to waste practice time. Finally he swerved his broom halfway around.

"Fine. You're lucky Black here is so charitable. But don't you do anything that interupts our practice, or we will make you leave. By any means necessary." He swung his broom around until he wasn't facing her, then took off back to the field. The rest of the team followed him. Only the Seeker stayed behind for a moment.

"I know how hard it is to find a good place to draw. Hope you have good inspiration." Then he swerved his broom around and also headed back to the field. She watched him go. Black... Sirius Black's little brother? She vaguely remebered his name from her sorting. R... Re... Regius? Remus? No, that was Potter's friend. What was his name? She didn't know. But she would find out.

She returned to her dormitory later that day. She passed Bruce in the common room, His arm bandaged up and sporting a black eye.

"What day's your detention for?"

"Next Saturday." She shook her head and continued on into the dormitory. Emily was there, tucking five Sickles into her money pouch.

"Hey, Celest. Did you get any good pictures?"

"Just this one. Everywhere was too crowded to stay very long." She showed her the drawing of the giant squid's tentecale and the lake. She'd hurridly finished it just before she left for the castle.

"Wow. It's good. You gonna color it?"

"Maybe." Celestia stowed her art stuff and followed her friend down to dinner. She did not tell Emily that hidden behind the squid drawing there were five pictures of the Slytherin Seeker flying.

Later that night when she'd got into bed, she lay awake thinking. How could a crush have sprung up this quickly? It was true that he wasn't as handsome as his brother, but she thought he had his own kind of good looks. What would her family say if they knew she liked a Slytherin? They probably wouldn't be too happy about it. She knew her friends would give her a hard time. How to explain that he was different? She didn't even know if he really was. He had just been kind to her, and that was more than any Slytherin had done for her so far. Plus he drew. She lay awake all night, wondering. But mostly just thinking about him. She'd pointed him out in passing at dinner to Emily, referring to him as "Sirius's brother" and inquiring to his name. Now she whispered it to herself in the dark.

"Regulus."

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**A/N: **So, I wasn't sure how far apart Sirius and Regulus are, so I'm making Regulus and Celstia fourth year and Sirius and them sixth year. I hoped you liked it! Obviously it's a little AU, but it won't be terribly off. I think. Anyway, please review! I'll try to update again soon. I'm off school and I don't have a job (yet) so I should be able to update decently. Again, please review. They help a lot. Well, see you next chapter!


	2. Love Game

**A/N: **So, you know the thing I said about updating decently? I really should know better by now than to say that sort of thing. It's like a jinx, promising that I won't update for at least three months, maybe more. So anyways, I'm updating now! And I won't make any promises, because I don't want to break them.

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Celestia walked down the hallway towards the Quidditch pitch. It was Gryffindor vs. Slytherin today, so it was guaranteed to be interesting. To be honest she was excited to have an excuse to stare at Regulus. It had been four months and so far she'd been able to keep her crush a secret, but that meant that she hadn't seen him any more than she had before. She had Charms with Slytherins, but that was it. And she couldn't allow herself to stare at him even then, because her friends might notice. So now she could watch him for minutes, maybe even an hour, with no one thinking anything of it. Of course she was sporting Gryffindor colors; she did prefer their team over all.

She and Emily crossed the grounds, Emily chattering away excitedly about how badly she thought the Gryffindors would beat the Slytherins. They climbed up into the stands with all the other Ravenclaws. It was chilly, being early February, so Celestia was bundled in her coat with a red and gold scarf around her neck and earmuffs doing a dual job of warming her ears and holding back her black hair. She and Emily chose seats relatively high up so they could see all the action up close. The crowd was buzzing excitedly. If the Gryffindors won by a margin of a hundred points or more, they would pull ahead to first place. If the Slytherins won, they would replace Gryffindors at second. Since Ravenclaw was in first place, of course Celestia wanted Gryffindor to win by less than a hundred points.

The teams entered the field and the crowd burst into wild applause as the announcer introduced the already familiar names. As the Slytherins were announced there was quite a bit of booing from three-quarters of the stands. When Regulus was introduced, Celestia clapped just a little, hoping no one would notice. The teams reached the center of the field and the captains shook hands. Then the whistle was blown and they kicked off hard. Celestia watched Regulus closely as he dodged and swerved, searching for the ever elusive Snitch.

"And Gryffindor scores!" cried the commentator, catching her off guard. She quickly roared with approval along with the rest of the crowd. They settled down and she returned to tracing the Slytherin Seeker's path. Gryffindor scored twice more before Slytherin got in a goal. As the goals mounted higher, the game got dirtier. Bludgers were flying every which way, and Celestia couldn't see how any of them were staying on their brooms. One of the Slytherin chasers grabbed the tail of a Gryffindor chaser's broom and swung him around, throwing him off course and causing him to drop the Quaffle. Roars of disapproval were heard all around and the referee blew the whistle, awarding Gryffindor a penalty shot. They made the goal but apparently were not satisfied. Almost as soon as play started again a bludger flew out of what seemed like nowhere and nearly knocked the offending Slytherin chaser off his broom. Both Seekers floated above the chaos below, focused solely on catching the golden ball that would end the game.

Suddenly the whole crowd gasped. Everyone could see it, hovering by the Slytherin goal post. Regulus was closest. As he swerved his broom around, eyes locked on the fluttering ball, a scarlet blur came out of nowhere and smashed into him. He flew sideways, hanging upside down from his broom, while the other player spun off in circles. As Regulus righted himself, Celestia screamed with disapproval.

"I know, right?" said Emily. Celestia looked at her in surprise. "How dare the Slytherin Seeker swerve directly into Potter's path like that? I mean, he could have been seriously hurt!" No whistle blew. "And they're not even going to give a penalty!" Celestia looked around the stands. She realized that most people were booing Regulus. They thought he had caused it. She looked back up where he was furiously looking around the field, but the Snitch had gotten away. Did no one see it as she did?

The game wore on with neither Seeker getting another glimpse of the Snitch. The goals kept coming until the score stood at 190 to 130 with Slytherin in the lead. The tension in the stands was palpable as everyone watched the chasers as though their eyes were jinxed to them. Suddenly both the Seekers dived. Everyone started searching the ground, some even standing up to do so. And there it was, about fifteen feet from the ground and in the direct center of the field. The two players hurtled toward the earth, forcing every ounce of speed out of their brooms. James was ahead, but Regulus was gaining. Before she realized what she was doing, Celestia found herself standing up and yelling, "Go, Regulus!" As soon as the words left her mouth she couldn't believe it. She stood transfixed for a while, then sat slowly back down. Everyone had been cheering so loudly that for a moment she hoped that no one had heard. But then she looked over at Emily and could tell by the look on her face. She had heard.

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**A/N: **So, what'd you think? I'd really like to know, so maybe you could leave a review telling me, even if it's just "good job!" or "you stink!! :(" I'd still appreciate it, and it really won't take much of your time at all. Anyways, as I said before, I'm not going to promise to update soon or anything, because whenever I do that I always end up not updating for months and months. So I hope you liked the story, and I'll see you next chapter!


	3. Love Notes

**A/N: **So, I realized that I kept saying it "might" be AU. Well, I need to rephrase that. It will be AU. At least, to any of our knowledge it'll be AU. But only a little. Or... whatever. AU doesn't always mean bad. So yeah, it's AU. But only events, not personalities. Again, as far as we know.

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Emily stared at her friend in disbelief.

"Celest, did you just..." She was cut off by a sudden upswing in screaming from the crowd. Both girls looked back to the pitch. James had caught the Snitch. They could see the silver wings fluttering out of his fist. But Regulus...

"NO!" screamed Celestia a split second before it happened. Regulus smashed face-first into the ground. The Slytherins were screaming in hatred and everyone else in joy. Everyone except two girls in the Ravenclaw section. James spiraled upwards, waving the Snitch triumphantly in the air. The rest of the Gryffindor team flew to hug him while the Slytherin team landed, gathering around their Seeker. Celestia watched as the referee magicked Regulus onto a stretcher. Suddenly she heard a loud crash and lots of angry screaming and boos. She looked up. After the team had dispersed from around James, one of the Slytherin beaters had remounted his broom and sped upwards, smashing into the Gryffindor player. The referee flew up, yelling and pulling them apart. James was sent to the hospital wing along with Regulus, who she could see moving around on his stretcher, obviously wanting to get up and walk.

As they walked back to their dorm, Emily kept trying to question Celestia, but she refused to answer any of her friend's questions, just walking along with her head down. Together they climbed the staircase.

"But Celest, I don't understand! _How _could you have possibly cheered for the-" she glanced around furtively to make sure no one was hearing, "_Slytherin _Seeker?"

"Please, Em. I don't want to talk about it!"

"But you _cheered _for him! I mean, you actually-"

"What is the base difference between Charms and Spells?" asked the knocker, cutting Emily off. Celestia quickly answered and ran into the common room and up into their dormitory. She pointed her wand sharply at the curtains and they swung closed. She heard Emily enter, but she didn't talk right away. Instead she heard her move around for a while, then sigh and sit on her bed. Then came a soft voice.

"I wish you'd just tell me what's going on." Celestia then heard her friend sigh again and stand up, leaving the room. Celestia lay there, thinking about Emily. How would she explain this to her? Maybe she should just keep quiet and hope that eventually Emily would forget about it. Because that was likely. Her mind wandered over to Regulus. She hoped he was alright. That fall had looked nasty. But then again, they had just about the best mediwitch ever, excluding St. Mungo's healers, of course. He'd probably be fine in a few days. But she wanted to do something to make him feel better. She knew that he must be feeling terrible about losing the game. Then she got the idea. She sat up abruptly and flicked her wand, sending her curtains open. She rolled off her bed and rummaged in her trunk for parchment and a quill. She hopped back on her bed and began scribbling while simultaneously waving her wand over the paper and murmuring under her breath.

**SegueSegueSegueSegueSegueSegueSegueSegueSegueSegueSegueSegue**

Celestia walked nervously down the hall, clutching her card. She hoped that no one noticed her. She got to the hospital room and looked around, then ducked inside. Two of the beds were occupied, but she spotted Regulus immediately. She started over when a voice called out.

"Yes, dearie, what do you want?" Their mediwitch, Madam Salverth, Madam Sal for short, was walking towards her. "What's the matter with you? Headache? Stomachache?" Celestia shook her head, taking a step back.

"No, no, I'm fine. I just wanted to..." She unconciously raised her card a little bit, and the witch got a knowing look on her face.

"Ah, a card for Mr. Potter eh?" She gestured to the other boy in the room, who Celestia now realized was James. "He's asleep now, but if you want I'll just take it and put it by his bed..." She reached for Celestia's card.

"No! Ah, I mean, I'd like to give it to him, if that's all right." Madam Sal regarded her.

"Very well dearie, but I'll warn you he's out cold. Not too bad of injuries, but I gave him a sleep potion to get him through the most unpleasant part." She turned and went back into her office. Celestia made sure she wasn't watching, then went over to Regulus's bed. She glanced down at her card one last time hoping he would like it. Then she placed it on his nightstand and hurried out, certain that she was blushing.

**SegueSegueSegueSegueSegueSegueSegueSegueSegueSegueSegueSegue**

Regulus awoke with a very sore head. He sat up, groaning. James was with Madam Sal by the door.

"You should be just fine, dear. Just don't put too much stress on that wrist for the rest of today."

"Alright. Thanks." As he turned to leave, James caught sight of Regulus awake. Madam Sal saw too and started hurrying over to him. Once her back was turned he sent Regulus a very rude hand gesture and walked out.

"How are you feeling, love?" Asked the witch, fluffing pillow and pushing him back. "You shouldn't be sitting up."

"I've got a headache," he said, allowing himself to be pushed back onto his pillows.

"Well here, take this," she said, pulling a purple potion out of her pocket. "It should clear that ache up in no time. Now, you're going to need to stay here overnight, but you should be good to go by tomorrow." She handed him the potion and hurried away into her office. He gulped it down. Almost instantly the pain in his head disappeared. He lay there for a while, growing angrier about losing the game. If that low-down, dirty, cheating, slug-eating Potter hadn't purposely flown at him and almost crashed into him, he would've gotten the Snitch. He sat up and looked around. He was surprised to see a card on his nightstand. He picked it up to see a picture of himself on a broom zooming around on the front. Suddenly it darted around the page. He opened it up to see where it was going. It zoomed and crashed into a cartoonish Potter, who fell off his broom. Regulus's likeness was left holding the Snitch and laughing hysterically. Below were inscribed three simple words. _Get well soon. _In lieu of a signature, there was... He stopped and stared. Was he seeing what he thought he was seeing? In place of a signature was a small heart. He slowly closed the card, where his picture was waving at him merrily on the front. Slowly he set it back on the nightstand and lay back.

_Who would have sent that? _he wondered.

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**A/N: **So, did you like it? Celestia finally made a move. Or... it's finally for her. I know it's just the 3rd chapter for you. So, sorry for making you wait so long. I know I had this little piece from Reg's POV, but that won't happen very often.


	4. Chance Meeting

**A/N: **Umm... next chapter! Not a lot planned for this chapter, but more exciting stuff is coming soon!

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Celestia lay on her bed, feet in the air and quill in her mouth. Her Transfiguration book lay open in front of her. Her legs waved back and forth as she re-read the section on Switching Spells. Finals were just a month away, and she was spending more and more time studying. And not even just during Ravenclaw's established two hours of finals study time. She pulled a piece of parchment to her and scratched down a note about Inanimate to Animate switchings. Those were tricky, and she was just positive that they'd be on the test. She heard someone enter the dorm. She peeked out of her bed curtains to see who it was. It was Emily. Celestia bit her lip. Things with Emily were weird now, even though it had been three months or so since she'd found out about Celestia's crush. Most of the time things were exactly as they had been, but occasionally Emily would stop and just stare at her friend, as though trying to figure out what was inside her head.

This appeared to be a normal time, however, as Emily flopped onto her bed and looked beseechingly at Celestia.

"I've never been so tired in my life! You'd think we were taking our OWLS this year, they've got us studying so hard."

"I suppose they've got to prepare us for next year."

"But it's crazy! They're going to run us dry at this rate."

"Well, what do you want me to do about it? I've got to take the exact same exams as you do, and complaining never helped anyone pass."

"I know, I know... I just wish that my brain didn't feel like it was going to explode every night!"

"If you're going to talk so much while you're in here, say something useful and quiz me." She handed her friend her book. They spent the next hour quizzing each other. Then Emilly declared that she was too tired to so much as get past the knocker if she was outside the dorm, and closed her bedcurtains. Celestia sighed. It _was _pretty late. She decided that she ought to try and get some sleep too. But maybe first she'd just finish the chapter she was on...

Celestia hurried down the hallway, cursing Emily for not waking her. She'd accidentally stayed up much later than she'd planned, having got caught up in her studies. So now she was late for class, and Flitwick was not appreciative of tardiness. As she was just about to round the corner, she heard a fair amount of cursing on the other side. She slowed down considerably and went around cautiously. There was a boy bent over, gathering his books which appeared to have spilt across the floor. Then she felt her heartbeat quicken. Not just any boy... it was Regulus! She bent down and began helping him with his books.

"Thanks..." he began as he looked up at her. Then he stopped. "Have we met?" She felt a blush coloring her cheeks and tried to will it away to no avail.

"We... we have Charms together. That... that is where you're headed now, right?" He nodded. She swallowed, trying to get the next words out. "And... and I was drawing in the stands once, while you were practicing." His eyebrows scrunched and he frowned, trying to remember. She couldn't help but notice how his black hair was falling across his forehead, almost but not quite getting into his dark eyes. The hallway seemed to be getting very hot. Suddenly his face lit up with recognition.

"I remember! Our Captain thought you were a spy."

"Y-yeah."

He frowned briefly. "You weren't in Gryffindor, right?"

"No, R-ravenclaw."

"What was your name?"

Her mind blanked for a second, then she blurted out, "Celestia! Celestia Ravesca."

He smiled, obviously proud of himself for remembering. They stood. "Well, Celestia, thanks for helping me with my books! I'm Regulus. Want to walk to class together?" Celestia thought she might faint. Or hyperventilate. Or both. Instead, she managed to get out,

"Sure." They walked down the hallway. Celestia felt giddy. Here she was, alone with him, just like she'd dreamed! Of course, they were just walking to class, and they'd said an all of eight or so sentences to each other, but it was still more than she'd ever thought would happen. They arrived at the class. Regulus gave a little wave as they split to their different tables. Celesita slid in place next to Emily, who was staring at her strangely. She ducked her head and quickly busied herself by opening her book and searching for the right page. Emily looked like she still might say something when Professor Flitwick cleared his throat.

"Now that we are all finally here and accounted for, we shall continue on with the lesson..."

The rest of the day Celestia kept going over those few minutes again and again in her mind, even getting in trouble in Potions for not paying attention. Slowly, though, they stopped being quite so wonderful as she began to realize that the entire encounter probably didn't mean a thing to Regulus. Just a random encounter with a random girl that he'd happened to have met before. By the time dinner rolled around, she was just about depressed, poking at her food without eating much.

Emily finally managed to corner Celestia in their dorm after dinner.

"_What _were you doing, walking into class with him?"

Celestia blushed and looked away. "Nothing, Em. We just ran into each other in the hallway."

"Celestia, I know how you feel about him! What did you do?"

"Nothing, I swear! He just dropped his books and I helped him!"

"Did you charm his bag?"

Celestia's eyes stung a little at the accusation. "Em, how could you? You know I wouldn't do that." Her friend ran a frustrated hand through her hair.

"I'm sorry, I just... it seems awfully coincidential that _you'd _meet _him _in the hallway."

"I know, Em, I really do, but I swear it was just an accident! Besides, we hardly even said anything to each other." Her voice shook a little. "I'm sure he won't even remember me tomorrow."

"Probably not. That's how those Slytherins are after..." Emily trailed off, realising finally that her words were hurting her friend. "Oh, Celest, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to... I just... I mean, you're fully right to-"

"It's ok, Em." The shaking was quite evident in Celestia's voice now. The giddiness had worn off over the day, sinking towards a depression as she realized how little the encounter must have meant to him. "I know you didn't mean anything by it." Emily came over and sat next to her friend on the bed, hugging her.

"He's incredibly lucky to have someone like you like him. And he's a complete idiot if he doesn't realize it and doesn't like you back. I mean, what's not to like?" Celestia smiled a little. At least Emily could be a good encourager, even if she didn't _always _think before she spoke.

"Em, I think I'm going to go to bed, alright?"

"Alright. See you in the morning, Celest."

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**A/N:** So, I hoped you liked it! Celestia finally get her time alone with Regulus, though it's not what she'd hoped... but at least now he knows that she exists! And her name. So, please review. It really helps me know that someone, anyone, cares. See you next chapter!


	5. Summer Heat

**A/N: **Hey there. So, I guess... next chapter! And I may be taking longer to update than in the past, because I haven't really liked my past few chapters. So I'm gonna be re-writing them a bit more. (Not the chapters I've already posted, the ones I'm currently working on. Although I may re-write the chapters I've already posted later...) So they may take a while to come out.

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Celestia sat in the classroom, waiting for the tests to be given out. The class was History of Magic, and she was nervously writing various facts on the desk with her finger, trying not to whisper them out loud. Finally the piece of parchment was placed in front of her. She lifted her quill, her stomach clenching a little.

_"Question 1. What was the historical signifigance of the doomed goblin-werewolf alliance of 1587? Explain your answer." _She thought for a minute, dipped her quill, and began scratching. The June sun was beating through the window straight onto her head. History of Magic was by far the hardest class she had, simply because it took so much effort to pay attention. But she managed her way through the test mildly, always stopping to think before writing her answer.

_"Question 23. Who was the first alchemist to discover that ground bowtruckle fingers were not an ingredient in the Elixir of Life?" _She stopped, her brow furrowed. Alchemists... alchemists... there was Flamel, of course... she glanced out the window at the beautiful grounds, bursting with the green life of summer. The lake glittered invitingly in the sun, and Celestia half-wished she could run and jump in it. A butterfly floated by and landed on the windowsill, flapped its wings twice, and took off again. She shook her head and turned back to her page. Alchemists... alchemists... suddenly she remembered, from last week during one of her extra study sessions. She quickly scratched down, _"In the late 1300s the alchemist Richard Groden examined the effects of removing..."_

Celestia shuffled out of the classroom with Emily at her side. Her friend looked half-asleep.

"I couldn't believe how hard that test was! You'd think he'd at least take into account that we've got other finals and haven't been studying his subject 24 hours a day, but no! He still makes us remember things that he mentioned _one time_ in the middle of the semester! I mean, if he really..." Celestia tuned her friend out, intent on getting to the great hall and getting something good for lunch to make up for the strain on her mind. As soon as the pair entered, their ears were assaulted by the extra-loud chatter of students who had been forced to keep silent for too long. The delicious smell of hamburger casserole floated through the air, making Celestia's stomach growl. She rushed to the Ravenclaw table and sat down. She began scooping large quantities of food onto her plate. Even Emily quit talking in order to consume as much sustenance as was possible in the shortest amount of time.

That afternoon they had Charms, which wasn't so bad. At least she remembered what the cure for the Rhyming Charm was, and she felt pretty confident about the Cheering Charm section. Then came Transfiguration. As she'd figured, Inanimate to Animate switching was on there. She glanced over at Emily and saw her drop her head to her desk in hopelessness. She smiled to herself. She knew her friend would get it in a moment. She took a deep breath. It was so stuffy in the room! She felt they should hold the finals in the interior of the castle, where it was cooler. Or in December. Finally the final, and their day, was over. When they got back to their dorm, Celestia and Emily flopped on their beds.

"I think I sprained my brain." her friend complained. Celestia smiled.

"Here's a thought to make you feel better: imagine how the other houses feel." Emily laughed at that.

"I bet the Hufflepuffs spontaneously combusted."

"I bet the Gryffindors finally snapped."

Emily giggled. "I bet the Slytherins over heated."

"Hmm, maybe not. They've got the dungeon, after all."

"True. Luckies... except only right now."

"Yeah..." Celestia heaved a sigh and relaxed. "I can't believe the year's almost over. We go home in two days!"

"I know. But hey, we'll see each other next year and we get to relax with our family."

"True. Before we know it our owls will be coming with our letters. Our O.W.L. year letters."

"Ugh! We just got done with finals! Don't even mention that!"

Celestia laughed. "Oh, I'm so ready to be home. Hogwarts is awesome, but I want to rest my mental factions." Suddenly Emily's stomach rumbled audibly. Celestia laughed. "Dinner time?" Her friend nodded.

"Dinner time."

Segue Segue Segue Segue Segue Segue Segue Segue Segue Segue Segue Segue Segue Segue Segue Segue Segue Segue Segue Segue Segue Segue Segue Segue Segue Segue

Celestia dragged her trunk down the platform. She'd had some trouble closing it, but she figured if she got it on the train soon enough, it wouldn't explode.

"Come on, Emily! I swear, if we get left in Hogsmeade because you held us up..."

"Oh, calm down. You know the train isn't even close to leaving." Complained her friend. She turned back to the boy she'd been talking to. She flirtatiously tossed her hair. Celestia rolled her eyes. Sure, they'd both started getting into guys this year (obviously,) but Emily took it way furthur than she did. As the year had progressed, she'd gone through crushes at an exponentially faster rate. Finally Emily headed over.

"Finally! Let's see if there's a compartment that's not taken yet." They struggled to get their luggage on the train. They walked slowly down the hallway, looking for a compartment. Celestia was having more trouble. "I shouldn't have gotten all that extra Hogsmeade merchendise throughout the year, huh?"

"Yeah..." Emily looked around, seeing if she could spot an open compartment. "There! There's one at the end!"

"You grab it, I'll catch up."

"Ok!" Her friend ran off. She hefted her trunk and kept walking. If only they could do something... like put it on wheels! Or if only they were allowed to do magic outside of school. She was sorely tempted to, even though it wasn't allowed. No sooner had she realized she was taking up the whole aisle than someone came up behind her. She groaned.

"I'm sorry, I'm just having..." she turned. It was Regulus! She heart quickened, but she was too busy to handling her trunk to react more than that. "trouble." she finished.

He smiled."I can see that." Her heartbeat quickened again. She'd never seen him smile before. It was gorgeous. She suddenly had the desire to make him smile again.

"I just need to..." She let go with one hand to brush her hair behind her ear. She then quickly realized what a terrible idea this was as her trunk tipped. Time seemed to slow down as she looked down in time to watch gravity yank it from her hand and smash it to the floor. The lid popped open and her stuff spilled everywhere. "No!" She dropped to her knees, trying to grab her stuff before it fell out, despite the fact that it was already all over the floor. Compartment doors popped open and people's heads poked out, wondering what had caused the commotion. She heard more than a few giggles. She felt her face turning red and the slighted stinging in her eyes. Regulus stepped over her.

"It's alright, there's nothing to see. Go away." One by one, the heads withdrew. He knelt beside her. "Here, let me help." She swallowed hard as he began picking up her books.

"Thanks."

"It's alright. I'm just repaying the favor."

She smiled wryly. "We do seem to keep meeting like this, don't we?"

He laughed a little. "It's... Celestia...? Right?" Her eyes widened a little and she nodded. He'd remembered her name!

"And you're Regulus!" He smiled again. She nearly sighed from the sight of it.

"Yep. What was your last name again?"

"Ravesca."

"As in Jelonious Ravesca?" He asked, eyebrows raised. She nodded.

"He was my grandfather."

"Impressive. He invented the Mind Freeze Charm."

"I know."

He laughed self-conciously. "I guess you would."

"But you're a Black. Your family history is nothing to sneeze at either."

"True..." They continued to gather her items in silence for a while. She heard a door open and looked up. She saw Emily's head poke out. Her mouth went dry. Her friend stared at her a moment, taking in the scene. Celestia saw her bite her lip. Eventually she gave Celestia a very knowing look and slipped back into the compartment. Regulus didn't seem to have noticed. She tried to act like nothing had happened.

"So, what are you doing this summer?"

"Oh, my family's throwing some sort of reunion. The awkward thing? They might be hoping for me to find a girl I like there. At a family reunion!"

Her heart sped up again, and not in a good way this time. "Really?"

"Yeah. They're really big on the pure blood thing. I mean, it is important, but within our own family? That's just weird."

She felt herself relax a little. "Yeah. My family's not as big on the pure blood, but I could see the look in their eyes the one time my sister dated a Muggle. The half-blood she ended up with didn't seem nearly so bad in comparison." He nodded.

"I can see why. So, what's your family doing?"

"Oh, nothing really. Not this summer. Dad keeps talking about going to London for a vacation. You know, staying at the Leaky Cauldron, taking a tour of the Ministry, exploring Diagon Alley, the works."

"Huh, my family lives in London."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Maybe if you come you should tell me."

"Um, uh, yeah! Yeah, maybe I will!" She felt herself blush just a little and bent her head down until she felt it go away. She looked up again. "Thanks for helping me."

"It's no problem. I was half the problem. I distracted you. Besides, you helped me before."

"Yeah, well..." She put that last couple of items in her trunk. She put her hands on the top, shoving the lid down. He did the same, and his hand landed on top of hers. She felt a blush flame up immediately and couldn't help but look up at him. He looked back down at her. He saw a slight look of surprise mingled with amusement on his face. His eyebrows were scrunched but his lips were curled in a tiny smile. He shoved and the lid clicked down.

"There. That oughta do it. Do you have a compartment?"

"Y-yeah." She could tell she was still blushing. "It's at the end." He bent down and picked up her trunk.

"Well, let's go." She blinked, then led the way down to the place Emily had picked. She slid the door open and he went in and shoved her trunk under the seat. "There you go. See you later." He turned and left. She went in and slowly sat down opposite her friend. Emily watched her strangely.

"What happened?"

"I dropped my trunk. He helped me pick it up. We... talked a little. That's it." Emily didn't look completely convinced, but she didn't press it any furthur. The rest of their train ride was slightly awkward and silent. Finally they got back to King's Cross. They pulled their luggage out and shuffled off the train. Celestia spotted her parents and headed over. Her dad took her trunk.

"What do you have in here, bricks?" She rolled her eyes. Just as she was about to go through the barrier, she heard a voice call out. She turned and saw a glimpse of a thin boy with dark hair.

"Have a good summer!"

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**A/N: **So, I felt better about this chapter. A lot of talking, though. Makes it look longer than it is! ^-^ I hoped you liked it. Next chapter is... well, you'll have to find out. Sorry for the wait! Please review!


	6. A New Start

**A/N: **So, I didn't get very many reviews last chapter. :( I'll keep writing, though. I'm not writing for reviews, they just make me really, really happy. So (different subject,) it's really hard to write before they start hanging out a lot, but those pre-chapters have to be written. I just hope they don't feel too much like fillers. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

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Celestia dragged her trunk which was much lighter than the last time she'd carried it.

"Hurry up! The train leaves in fifteen minutes!" A tall thin woman with her daughter's dark hair looked worridly at the clock. Her daughter sighed.

"We're in the station. We've got plenty of time."

"Go easy on your mother. You know how jumpy she gets around Muggles." Her father put a hand on her shoulder.

"Maybe I could go easier on her if you'd carry my trunk."

"Of course. Why are you always trying to give me all the work?" He asked. She looked at him with the big eyes that had gotten her whatever she wanted since she was two years old when she first discovered the technique. "Oh, alright." He took the trunk from her. She skipped up to the barrier between platforms 9 and 10.

"I never understood why they call it platform 9 and 3/4. It really should be platform 9 and 1/2. It's halfway between the two."

"Honey, could you please philosophize about it later? Like on the train? When I'm not carrying your bag?"

"Alright, daddy." She went through the barrier and quickly spotted Emily's blonde head and tried to pretend she wasn't looking for a different dark one. She waved at he friend and turned to her parents. "Well, I'm going to go now." She kissed her mom, hugged her dad, and took her trunk back from him.

"We'll write you often!"

"Mom." Celestia rolled her eyes. "I'm in fifth year! You don't need to write me every week."

"Alright, once a month?"

Celestia stared into her mother's concerned eyes and almost laughed. "Alright, mum. Once a month. Love you." Another tearful hug.

"I love you too! See you at the winter holidays."

"See you. You too, dad."

"Make good grades."

"I always do." She turned and hurried off to the train, meeting up with Emily on the way. "Let's hurry and get a good compartment this time!"

"Yeah." Her friend agreed. They rushed onto the train, dragging their trunks behind them. They rushed into one almost as soon as they got on. As soon as they'd secured their spot and stowed their luggage, Celestia asked her friend how her summer had been.

"Bipolar. We went and visited my relatives in America. The first was my aunt and uncle in Florida. It was sooo hot and humid there! And then we visited my cousins on the east side of Washington. It was so dry I thought I would set the trees on fire just by looking at them! And then we went to see my other cousins on the west side of Washington. Cold and wet, that's all I can say. It rained like, every two days!! How was yours?"

"Mostly boring. Everybody was gone and we didn't take that trip like we'd planned. But I did take a Muggle art class. Here, I've got one I think you'll like." Celestia pulled a sheaf of papers from her trunk and began riffling through them.

"Woah, that parchment looks weird."

"Yeah, that's the thing. It's Muggle paper. Who knew they'd even have different paper, eh?" There were quite a few drawings to go through. The class had had an entire section on drawing people. Of course, she'd done one particular person for most of them, but when they'd done charactitures she couldn't help but draw Emily. "Ah-ha!" She extracted the drawing and passed it over. Emily took one look at it and collapsed in a fit of giggles.

"This is brilliant! How'd you explain me in robes? And with a wand!"

Celestia found herself giggling as well. "You see, there's this Muggle game. I think it's called... Dragons and Castles? No, no, Dungeons and Dragons! Anyway, it's got wizards in it. I told them you were a fan. It's got a bit of a weird reputation, though, but nobody seemed to think it was too weird." Emily only laughed harder.

"What kind of game is it?"

"It's what they call a roleplaying game. Their lives are so boring they have to pretend that they're someone they're not!" By this time Emily was bent over, clutching her stomach. After a while the two girls' laughter subsided. They passed the rest of the train ride trading stories and jokes and playing games. When the lunch trolley came by they both got plenty of pasties and licorice wands. Celestia munched on hers and stared at the countryside. "It's good to be going back to Hogwarts."

"I know what you mean. Sure, being home is great and all, but at Hogwarts we get to do... so... much! We get to do _magic. _I mean, we're made to do magic! It's not fair that we have to wait until we're seventeen!"

"Yeah, well, those are the rules. You got a problem with them, take it up with the Ministry. Or become the Minister."

"Maybe I will!"

Celestia couldn't help but laugh at this image, and Emily soon joined in. Eventually the skies darkened and they approached the school. The two girls changed into their robes and Celestia put her drawings away. The train lurched to a halt and they lugged their trunks out to the carraiges. The managed to get one with another Ravenclaw that they knew rather well and a Hufflepuff. The trundled off down the road. As they made their way to the castle a light rain began to fall. By the time they arrived it was falling rather steadily. Celestia and Emily murmured quick repelling charms before they exited, glad to be able to do so once again. They hurried into the Great Hall, seating themselves at the table with the other Ravenclaws. The Sorting passed by quickly; Emily's brother had come (and was sorted into Ravenclaw, much to his sister's approval) but other than that they didn't know anyone coming in. They spent a few moments catching up before the headmaster stood up to the podium.

"To our new students, welcome! And to our old students, welcome back! This is going to be an exciting year for us all. You all will get busy filling up the heads that you've emptied over the summer, and we've got to get busy giving you the stuff to fill them with. Our care taker has asked me to inform you that dungbombs are officially on the list of banned items. On a more serious note, we all know that the dark wizard Voldemort has been gaining power for some time. So I would like to remind you all to keep a strict watch, report anyone who may be acting odd, and to remember that the Forbidden Forest is strictly, _strictly _out of bounds. In the mean time, let us feast!" He clapped his hands and the golden platters filled with all sorts of delectable foods. Celestia immediately grabbed three chicken legs and a helping of potatoes.

"Did'ja hear?" asked their classmate Julia Hawthorn. "They say the Death Eater attacks are getting more gutsy. They say it won't be long now before it's all-out war." Celestia couldn't help but glance around worridly at this. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named... it was a subject she liked to avoid. So far none of her family had been attacked. Or her friends, for that matter. It was like she was in a little bubble, with this storm raging around it. As long as she didn't leave the bubble, she'd be fine. After all, it was well known that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and his followers mainly went for Muggle borns, as long as you didn't defy him. So she should be safe. Right? The Grey Lady drifted solemnly past, not at all stilling Celestia's feelings.

The feast wound down and the students were dismissed. Celestia wandered up to her dorm, happily full and letting Emily's chatter take her mind away from unsettling matters. She sank onto her bed, her eyes halfway shut before she even lay down. As she lay on the soft sheets and drew the beautiful blue curtain around her bed she sighed in satisfaction.

"It's good to be home."

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**A/N: **Why yes, I _do _realise that there was no meeting between them this chapter. I know, le gasp, right? But there were a few things in this chapter, and if I'd combined it with the next chapter, it would have been WAY TOO LONG. So, this is what you get. Please review. See you soon!


	7. Helpful Meddling

**A/N: **Ok, I've done some research and apparently they're in the middle of the war with Voldemort, not beginning it. So, yeah. Just pretend that's what I said. Also, I may move dates around a bit, but it won't be by more than a year, and I'm not sure I'll need to, anyway. And... there's really nothing else to say but I'm sorry for the wait. Too many things happened to explain, but yeah. As I've said before, I'll _try _to be better, but no promises. But I will try.

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Celestia sat at breakfast, eagerly awaiting her schedule. She took a ladle of porridge and a piece of toast with marmalade. Emily and Sabrina were on either side of her, chatting excitedly. Everyone just wanted classes to start already! Or everyone at the Ravenclaw table. Soon enough McGonagall passed them out. Celestia scanned hers quickly. Transfiguration first thing, then Care of Magical Creatures with the Hufflepuffs. She groaned as she looked at the sky. It was grey and cloudy with the taunting threat of rain, not the best day to be outside. Then it was lunch, then Charms and last of the day, Potions with the Slytherins. She picked up her bag and headed over to McGonagall's classroom with Emily.

The day passed quickly, with most of their teachers spending the majority of the lesson lecturing them on the importance of their O.W.L.s. However, they still managed to accrue a foot long essay over Vanishing for Transfiguration and an essay on the proper way to declaw a hippogriff for Care of Magical Creatures. And to top it off it had started raining just as Care of Magical creatures began and stopped right as it ended. During lunch Emily expressed her worry while wringing out her hair.

"I mean, yeah I'm smart, but I think the O.W.L.s are going to be harder than the knocker when it gets grumpy!" Celestia smiled, remembering the occasion that Emily had been locked out for four hours because she'd come up at three in the morning and the knocker'd made her list all the ingrediants for the alchemical potion of Transportation (which was the most complicated alchemical potion, excluding the Elixir of Life), in alphabetical order. Of course Emily couldn't remember them since the potion had been obsolete ever since Apparating was developed, so she'd had to wait out there for the early risers to open the door and find her curled on the floor, barely managing to doze because of the cold stone.

"I doubt they'll be that hard."

"But our entire wizarding career depends on these tests! What if I fail? What if I go blank? What if I forget to study, what if-"

"Emily! Calm down. First of all, thousands and thousands of students have taken this before us, and the majority of them came out alright. You definitely won't _fail, _I know what your grades have been your whole time at Hogwarts. You do have a tendency to go blank, but you always remember before the end of the test, and you're in _Ravenclaw. _Do you really think it'd be conceivably possible for you to _forget to study?_" Emily was the one to smile this time. Other than the fact that there were always Ravenclaws studying somewhere in the common room and dormitories, starting in January there was an entire corner of the common room where a Silencing Charm was put, specifically for fifth and seventh years to study in. It had a large sign, just in case someone didn't figure it out. "Besides, it's the first day! If you're going to be like this the whole year, I'm going to put a Cheering Charm on you that's so strong you'll think Azkaban is funny!" Emily smiled a little again and nodded.

After lunch they headed to Charms, where once again they were berated with the importance of the O.W.L.s. Despite her own pep talk at lunch, even Celestia was growing nervous at this point. When they ended the class with homework to practice the Aguamenti Charm, Celestia had a little worry crease between her eyes. The fact that Bruce had managed to produce a stream of wine, not water, so strong that it gave a person two rows away a black eye didn't even make her laugh.

As she walked down to Potions her apprehension grew. She knew that Slughorn was one of the easiest and nicest teachers, but even he would be serious about their O.W.L.s. She entered the classroom and stopped for just a second. She'd been so caught up in worrying about O.W.L.s that she'd forgotton they had this class with the Slytherins. And there he was, making his way to a table. However, she snapped out of it quickly and found a seat with her friends. They talked happily while everyone found seats. She glanced over at the Slytherins while Emily and Sabrina were laughing at a joke. There he was, talking with his own friends. They filled one table and Regulus sat alone in the one directly behind them. There was a girl he was talking to. Celestia wondered if they were together, or if he at least liked her. She turned her head quickly and began talking to her friends again. It wasn't long before Slughorn got to the front of the classroom, calling for attention.

"As you well know, this is likely the most important year of your education. You will be taking your Ordinary Wizarding Level tests at the end of this year, and they will determine..." Celestia found herself tuning out. Normally she wouldn't, despite having heard this speech three times already, but there he was, all ready to be looked at. He wasn't paying the closest attention either, instead doodling on a spare piece of parchment. His hair was falling over his forehead and into his eyes as he bent his head down. He'd let it grow out a little over the summer. He smiled at his own drawing and she smiled a little too. She'd forgotton quite how attractive it was. However, it wasn't long before she drew herself back to Slughorn's speech. It was important and besides, she couldn't look at him for long without someone getting suspicious.

"If you do not prepare correctly, it could be detrimental to your entire career. I suggest studying as much as you can, possibly forming groups with cleverer students if you're having problems. We will be covering much more advanced..." as she looked back, she found that Slughorn was looking at her with a small twinkle in his eye. Or was he looking behind her? Or to the side? The moment had passed to quickly to be certain, but she found herself blushing a little. However, she doubted she would get in trouble. She'd never been one of Slughorn's chosen favorites, but he did like her pretty well and treated her well.

After about fifteen minutes, shorter than most of the teachers, he finished his speech and started on the lesson. "Today we will be trying out a Confusing Concotion. We'll need to work in pairs for this, so everybody group up!" He walked immediately to their table, almost suspiciously fast. "Now, now ladies. Three is not a pair. Why doesn't Miss. Ravesca work with that young lad, he doesn't have a partner." The next thing she knew, Celestia had her equipment in her arms and was being shunted over to Regulus's table. Slughorn walked off whistling, and Celestia stared at his back with a mixture of suspicion and shock. She set up her equipment, trying to quell the nervousness inside her.

"Hello." said Regulus cheerfully. "I suppose we're partners, then?"

"I suppose so." Celestia replied, laying out her ingrediants.

"That's fun, as long as you don't spill our stuff everywhere." Celestia looked at him in surprise.

"You remember that?"

"How could I forget? I couldn't believe you fit that much stuff into your trunk in the first place, it filled the entire corridor!" He laughed a little and she smiled tentatively. "What was your name again?"

"Celestia. Celestia Ravesca."

"Oh, right! Your grandfather... yeah, well, we went over that, didn't we?" They began arranging their ingrediants according to the instructions that had appeared on the blackboard. As she sliced dandelion pods, Celestia built up the nerve to start a conversation.

"So... what did you draw?"

"Huh?" Regulus looked confused. Celestia quickly realized that of course he didn't know she'd been watching him. That would seem creepy.

"Ah, I just noticed it..." She gestured because, fortunately, he had left the drawing on top of his bag.

"Oh, that. Just... well, here. Let me show you." He bent and retrieved the scrap and showed it to her. It was a Snitch flying right through a goalpost with a confused scorekeeper looking at his cards, as though trying to decide whether or not to count it.

"Oh, I remember that! That was funny." Celestia said, smiling. The event had indeed happened in one of the last games of the previous year. "This is pretty good."

"Thanks. You draw too, right?"

"Yeah."

"I'd like to see yours sometime." She blushed just a little and mumbled that sure, maybe sometime. They worked in silence for a while. Celestia soon had her potion to the sky blue color described, but she glance over at Regulus's to see that it was... red?

"How did you even do that?" she asked, moving over for a moment to try and discern what was wrong. Regulus seemed frazzled as he replied.

"I don't know! I thought I was following the instructions, but then it bubbled pretty violently and turned... this!" He gestured helplessly at the potion which was quickly congealing. If they didn't do something soon it would be too thick to stir. Celestia began scanning the instructions quickly, glancing from the blackboard to the potion and back again.

"Did you add the fox blood?" she asked.

"Yes."

"How about the thyme leaves?" She went through each ingrediant, with him miserably answering and sinking farther into his chair, until they got to, "Well, what about the three drops of helbane?" He sat up abruptly.

"Helbane? I thought it said wolfsbane!"

"No, no, definitely not." She quickly grabbed the right syrup and dripped three drops in, laborously stirring the nearly solid mass. Slowly it faded from red, to purplish, then lightened up into a blue. Darker than it was supposed to be, but at least it was on the right track. It was much runnier now, too. "I don't know if you can completely save it, but you should be able to scrape a pass. Here, I'll help you with the instructions." For the rest of the lesson Celestia read off the instructions to him, making sure he followed them correctly. By the end hers was almost exactly what was described, a cerulean liquid giving off light green smoke. Regulus's refused to emit the smoke, but it was the right color. They bottled and corked a sample each and brought it to the front. As they got their stuff together to leave, Regulus thanked her profusely.

"Without you I definitely would have failed. Not even good standing with Slughorn would have saved me." She blushed a little from the praise.

"It's what I'm here for! Saving hopeless causes from certain doom!" He laughed and slung his bag over his shoulder.

"Well, you're quite good at it. Maybe you should be my partner more often, I'll ace this class if you are."

She smiled and waved a goodbye as they parted ways. She hoped he meant it. Through the rest of the day her thoughts were taken elsewhere as she went to dinner, then treked up to the common room to do her homework. But as she lay in bed, exhausted from her first day, her mind drifted back, and she hoped again. Then again, they were taking the class with Slughorn, and if you ever needed someone to meddle on your behalf, he was definitely the best bet. _Even when you didn't ask for it,_ she thought with a half smile.

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**A/N: **There you go! I hope it makes you happy. Please review, they really do help. And thank you to everyone who has done so. I will try to update much, much more regularly. I promise that much.


	8. Partnership

**A/N: **First off I would like to say THANK YOU to my wonderful, lovely reviewers. Every time I see there's another review it makes me so happy. Even when it's a critique (which I did get a few of.) I like those because they tell me what I can improve on. So once again, to each and every one of you who reviewed, thank you!

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Celestia sat at the Ravenclaw table, watching the grey clouds swirl by overhead. It seemed to be overcast often in these past few weeks. It reflected the mood of everyone. Just the day before it had been reported in the _Daily Prophet _that two members of the Magical Law Enforcement branch of the Ministry had been attacked and killed. Everyone needed something to cheer them up, but so far nothing had been helping. Not to mention three students had been checked out and taken home. And it was only three weeks into the semester. All of last year and the summer it had seemed like things were settling down. And then, just as people were relaxing a little, it picked back up again. Still, Celestia couldn't see why students would be checked out. Hogwarts was clearly the safest place for any student. They had centuries old enchantments guarding them. They had an entire staff of trained and able wizards. They had Dumbledore.

She turned back to her breakfast, digging into her eggs and bacon. They were safe at Hogwarts. As long as she remembered that she'd be fine. And she really couldn't afford to focus on anything else at the moment. The teachers had not slacked off one iota since the beginning of school. If anything, the work loads had increased. Everyone was feeling the strain, even the Ravenclaws. Why, she had had to spend all of Saturday on an essay for Defense Against the Dark Arts, and she had been working on it since it was assigned! Still, she supposed it was better that they get used to it now so by the end of the year they'd be able to keep up with everything they got.

She headed to Transfiguration, eager to find out what they'd be learning. She found a spot, laid her bag by her desk, and pulled out her book and wand. Emily hurried in and took the seat beside her.

"Did you notice?" she asked, her cheeks flushed with excitement. "Next Saturday's the first Hogsmeade weekend!" Celestia pondered that for a moment. For the first time since her third year, this statement wasn't greeted with bursting enthusiasm.

"I guess we can go... as long as we're caught up on our work." she said. Emily scowled.

"You're such a such a spoilsport! I'm going no matter what, so there!" The blonde stuck her tongue out at her friend, bright blue eyes sparkling with mischief. "I could use a break." Celestia sighed. For a Ravenclaw, Emily didn't work very hard. Nevertheless, she felt a strong temptation to shirk work and just go as well. She'd have to think about it. Right now, Professor McGonagall demanded her attention as she began discussing the transference of Vanishing more complex creatures. They were supposed to work their way to slightly more advanced mammals soon; nearly all of them had mastered mice.

They moved on to Care of Magical Creatures, and Emily switched topics to the Death Eater attacks. "What d'you think, Celest? You think they'll get bigger? I mean, for a while it looked really bad, but then it was so quiet recently, but now it's picking back up..."

"Emily," Celestia cut through the chatter, knowing her friend would say the same thing with different words for five minutes if she didn't stop her. "I don't know what's going to happen. But I think we won't have to worry about it too much, at least until we have to leave the castle. After all, doesn't everyone say that You-Know-Who is afraid of Dumbledore?" Emily slowly nodded.

"That's true. But what about during break? What about our families on the outside? What about-"

"I don't know." Celestia repeated. A cool, stiff breeze picked her long dark hair up off her neck for a moment. Her head filled with thoughts of what could happen to her family while she was frolicking off in the castle. They could be captured, they could be tortured, they could be ki- No. It wouldn't come to that. They were pureblood, she reminded herself, and had never actively fought Him. They would be safe. They would be safe. Fortunately they arrived at the class then.

They were learning about bowtruckles today, little stick men that liked to live in wand wood trees. They split into groups of three. Sabrina tried to choose one for them, and shrieked as one tangled itself in her long blonde hair. Emily came over and helped her detangle it, then carried it over to their workstation. They had such a time trying to control their particularly rowdy one that they didn't talk about much else.

Next they headed on over to lunch, and Emily picked up the subject of Hogsmeade again.

"Oh, I can't wait to get into Honeydukes, I hear they've made a special hot chocolate that's so thick it's like a pure melted chocolate bar. And of course they have those Ember Elites, they're great, keep you warm for hours! Although they're a little cakey for my tastes. Or we can go to the Three Broom Sticks, their butterbeer does a good job of warming you up as well..." Celestia allowed her to prattle on this time. It was better than her going on about Death Eaters. After having their fill of a thick chicken stew, they headed off to Charms.

They were going over Silencing Charms, so Emily's chatter was quite covered by all the noise made by the animals they were supposed to be quieting. At least, until some people actually started getting it right. Flitwick came over.

"There seems to be quite a bit of chatter over here," Celestia looked pointedly at her friend. "Well, let's see if you can do it, Miss Griffiths." Emily bit her lip, then turned to her crow.

"_Silencio!"_ she cried, jabbing her wand at it. The crow looked at her reproachfully, then cawed. It did, however, sound quieter. A little as though it were getting a hoarse throat. Flitwick then asked Celestia to do it. On the first try her bird cawed as loudly as ever, but she got it on the second try. Emily was assigned practice of the charm.

They walked down to Potions, Emily grumbling about Flitwick and his tendency to actually force students to try. As they entered the room, Slughorn was already there, beaming. They found a table together and chatted as the room filled. As always, Celestia glanced over at the Slytherins. There he was. He was laughing at a story one of his friends was telling, with that heart-melting smile on his face. Really, it made him at least twice as attractive. She looked back at Emily and started talking again just as Slughorn called for quiet.

"Now, class. I have noticed that several of you are struggling with the work this year. I understand, as we have stepped up the difficulty level a bit. However, I can't have you slacking off just when you need to make good grades." He wagged a finger at them, a sparkle in his eye. "So today I am going to be pairing students together, one who is struggling with one who is doing well. Hopefully the better students will be able to coach those who aren't up to par. If you get along with your partner and need extra help, I would suggest making the alliance permanent."

Celestia gave a grin to Emily; it was unlikely they'd be paired together, they were both good at Potions. Slughorn reached their table.

"Miss Griffiths, I think you'd help Mr. Bailey," he said, pointing at another Ravenclaw boy. "And as for you, Miss Ravesca," he said, turning to her. She swore she saw a mischievous glint in his eye. "I think that you would do well with Mr. Black over there." She looked at him with wide eyes and he winked at her with a large grin. She looked down suddenly nervous, and gathered her things. She wasn't quite sure how to feel about the fact that now there was no doubt that Slughorn knew _exactly _what he was doing. She walked over to Regulus, swallowing hard.

"We're to be partners." she said, dumping her stuff on his table.

"Oh good, you can save me again!" he said jokingly, flicking his dark hair to the side. She smiled back at him.

"Only if you don't read the directions. Again." she teased. He rolled his eyes. This close she could see his long, dark eyelashes. _Why do boys always get to have long eyelashes when it's girls that want them? _she wondered. The instructions appeared on the board and they set to work. Celestia kept a close eye on Regulus. She also made sure he was doing the right steps.

"No, no." she said, quickly grabbing his wrist before he could drop the leaves into his cauldron. She tingled a little at the contact, but focused on the problem at hand. "_Not _belladonna. You need sage. You put belladonna in, it could turn deadly." He looked at the plant in his hand, surprised.

"Which one is sage, then?" She pointed it out to him, and he nodded and continued on in his work. A little while later she stopped him again.

"You're stirring much to quickly. It needs to be slow and smooth, like this." She showed him, gently swirling her potion. He copied her movements, sweeping the liquid to and fro. "And it's good to scrape the sides sometimes, just to make sure it's not congealing there."

"You really _are _good at this," he commented, still gently stirring his potion.

"Well, it's a bit like cooking, and I used to do that with my mum a lot. Only if you mess up here it doesn't only taste bad; it could blow up a little bit."

He laughed. "Or turn bright red and hard as a rock."

Now it was her turn to laugh. "Or that." By the end of the lesson both of their potions were just the right shade of lavender. They corked samples and brought them up to the desk. As they walked back to get there things, Regulus turned to her.

"So..." He looked slightly awkward, as though he wasn't sure how to say what he wanted to say. She felt her heartbeat quicken a little. "As you can tell, I'm pretty bad at Potions." She smiled a bit. "And, well, you're pretty good at it." She felt a small blush creep up, but remained mostly calm. "So, I was wondering, d'you think you could tutor me a bit? Just once a week or so." She stopped, shocked. Be with him once a week? Have time to really talk and get to know him? Be... alone together? Before she had finished thinking, she found herself nodding rapidly.

"Yes! Er, yeah, that sounds like it'd be fine. How about Thursdays at 6, in the library?" He nodded with a smile.

"It's a date." She tried not to squeak at those words, but she did feel her blush deepen. She quickly turned to hide her face, gathering her stuff. She walked out of the classroom, smiling to herself. They had a date!

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**A/N: **I hope you liked it! I tried to add more descriptions, since people commented about that. And I agree, after looking back over them. Anyways, like I said, I hope you liked it! And please review.


	9. First Lesson

**A/N: **Here's the next chapter! :) Thank you to ALL my lovely reviewers! You make my day bright. And I'm very sorry for the delay. At first, I decided to take time to work on my real story that I'm writing, and then Fanfiction decided to act up and not let me update. But I'm back!

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Celestia sat nervously at the table. It was time for their first meeting. She'd set up several books in a row, all open to useful pages. Under  
them she'd spread out some notes that she'd taken in class. Finally, she had some blank pages, two inkwells, and two freshly sharpened quills. She took a deep  
breath. At least there weren't many people in the library today, so they would have a little privacy. She looked nervously at the clock. It was 6:01; he  
should be there any minute. At 6:05, he walked through the doors of the library, looking around. He spotted her and walked over.

"You certainly are prepared," he said, tossing his bag carelessly on the floor.

"Well, it's always better to be over prepared than underprepared. That's the Ravenclaw motto."

"I bet it is," he laughed.

"So, he hinted that Draught of Living Death will be on the exam, so I thought we'd cover that."

"Ok." said Regulus, glancing over her notes.

"So… well, asphodel and wormwood are the most important ingredients. They give the potency and sleep inducing properties. However, if  
you don't add hellebore at the right moment, the wormwood grows too powerful and could send your intended victim into a non-reversible coma, and possibly  
even real death." Regulus looked worried at that.

"I hope we don't have to make it for the practical. I'd hate to kill someone because I got it wrong."

Celestia tried not to giggle. "They don't_ taste _the potions! Otherwise they'd probably lose half the staff every year!"

"Right, right, I knew that." He coughed and looked down at her notes again. "And could you please not use textbook language? It's like  
listening to the professor, and the reason we're having this is because I don't understand the professor!"

"Of course, sorry." Celestia quelled her embarrassment by moving on. "Well, the other important thing to remember is that you keep the heat low  
the entire time. If it reaches so much as medium, the whole thing could be ruined. It helps me that when I think of sleep I think of coolness, like it's  
cooling your thoughts and mind, and the cool of the night air. Therefore, the fire for the potion must be kept cool."

"Night is cool; the fire must be kept cool." He nodded. "I think I can remember that." He drew one of the blank pages to him and grabbed  
one of the quills, scribbling it down. "And what did you say were the important ingredients again?"

"Asphodel and wormwood."

"Right." He scribbled these down as well.

"If you'd like, you can borrow this page." She dug in her notes until she found the one she was after. "It's got a full list of the  
ingredients and the method, you could write it down if it'd help." He took it from her and looked over it, slight despair on his face.

"I don't think I'd be able to memorize it, even if I did write it down."

"Well, here, maybe you could just bullet point it? See, make out the list of ingredients, and then simplify the instructions. You won't have  
to know all of them for the written exam, and if it's the practical then they'll be on the blackboard anyway. You just need to know the important parts, which I've  
highlighted." He looked at it again, impressed.

"You know, this actually might help. Thanks!"

"No problem." She tried not to smile too big. "You know, if you just did this for all the potions we go over in class, it could really help  
you remember them." He laughed at that.

"I couldn't do this for everything we go over, but I'll definitely try to do it for the things I remember, or at least understand."

"Fair enough." She said, reminding herself that not everyone paid as close attention as Ravenclaws. "So, you're horrible at Potions. What are you good at?"

"I'm good at Quidditch," he said, flashing a smile. "I'm also pretty good at Charms, and I'm really good at Defense Against the Dark Arts, but… I don't know… it's not my favorite class. It seems kind of useless, doesn't it?"

"Useless?" she exclaimed, then lowered her voice. They were in a library, after all. "Why would it be useless? We do need to know how to defend ourselves in case… in case… well, there are… you know there are bad things out there!" She couldn't even bring herself to say You-Know-Who, she was so scared of him.

Regulus stared at the table for a while before answering. "You're right, you're right. But how big is the threat, really? Doesn't it depend on how you look at it...?" He stopped suddenly and looked at her sideways. "I just… er… I mean that nothing's going to hurt us, right? We're kids. And by the time we're adults… it'll probably be all over, right?"

"I hope so…" she said, thinking of her protective bubble.

"Anyways, it's just not my favorite class."

"Well then, what is?" she asked, interested.

"Er… well… I don't know!" he said, laughing a little. "I guess I don't like school in general much, although I don't _hate _it… necessarily. I love Quidditch, though."

"You're a pretty good player." She said, giving him another smile.

"Thanks. Although our team should be winning more, if only our Chasers would work together like they're supposed to. They can't even get our Spear Attack play right, and the only thing it requires them to do together is fly in formation for the first thirty seconds! And if that wasn't bad enough…" She tried to listen as he went on, but she had the feeling that she was finding out what he felt like when she talked about Potions. Still, she'd never seen him so worked up. He had a lot of passion in him. His eyes were lit with excitement as he described a very close win he'd scraped for them once, when he'd caught the Snitch literally a half second before the other Seeker. He talked for a solid ten minutes about Quidditch before finally running out of steam.

"I see that you like it." She quipped, a small smile on her face.

"Yeah…" he said, looking slightly embarrassed at having got so caught up. "So… was there anything else you wanted to go over today?"

"No… I guess not." She said, looking over at the things she'd prepared.

"Well then, I guess I'd better be going." He reached for his bag and stood up.

"Of course, here, don't forget that page of notes," she said, handing it to him as she put everything away.

"So, next week?" he asked. She nodded.

"I'm thinking we'll go over Polyjuice Potion and Draught of Peace."

"Alright. I think these sessions'll really help me. Thanks again."

"It's no problem," she said, ducking her head and smiling. They began heading to their separate dormitories.

"See you in Potions!" he yelled as he disappeared down the hall.

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**A/N:** And done. I hope you liked it! Hopefully the next chapter will be up much sooner. *murmurs about lazy authors*


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